Mutating
by JazzKat830
Summary: Jade Jackson isn't your typical 16-year-old. She knows that, S.H.I.E.L.D. knows that, the Avengers know that. What will happen when she joins them?
1. The Meeting

**My first story! It took me ****so**** long to write this chapter, even though it's short...**

**Review and let me know if you liked it! **

**This probably won't be updated very often...anyway, on with the story! :)**

Chapter 1:

I have always had a feeling that there was something about me that wasn't normal. It was only recently that I discovered that I was mutating slowly. My mind and body were changing into powerful weapons. The mutation caused me major pain and suffering, and is now in its final stages. By this point I had become physically stronger and mentally smarter, as well as gaining telekinesis, telepathy, and some pretty awesome things with my voice (like creating a vocal block of sorts and being able to copy someone's vocal patterns.) I was still working on reading minds and moving heavier objects with my mind, but as I said, these were just the final stages, I wasn't, I guess, fully charged yet.

The funny thing is I'm not sure where this mutation came from. It's not like I was injected with a serum or exposed to radiation, it just sort of…happened one day. Bruce has been studying the mutation and doesn't have a clue either, which is kind of surprising considering he tends to get a bit obsessed with his work.

What bugs me the most is that Tony Stark has now called some sort of meeting. For what, I'm not sure, but for some reason I have to be involved. I've been in Stark tower a week already, trying to perfect my abilities in one of the only places that is safe enough.

As I sat there in a chair next to Tony (who for some reason would not shut up) waiting for the rest of the Avengers to arrive, I wondered what it was about. I was curious, but also worried as I thought of a few far-fetched possibilities. Eventually, I was getting angry at Tony for talking to me about pointless topics and asking questions I wasn't going to answer.

"So, have you been enjoying Stark tower?" Tony asked me. When I didn't respond, yet again, he continued on. "I hope you've absolutely loved it. I'd be surprised if you didn't. Have you tried-"

"TONY!" I snapped.

"Well," he said. "We can just have

I sighed and just sat there as Banner, Natasha, Barton, Thor, and Steve finally walked in.

"It's about time," I said quietly, as Nat sat down on the other side of me.

"Is Tony not making good company?" she asked, giving a small smile.

"He can sometimes be pretty annoying," I replied. Tony began to speak and we turned to him.

"So, we are all here today because of this girl, Jade," Tony said, gesturing to me.

"Me?" I asked, getting nervous.

"Yes, you," he replied.

"What about me?" I asked.

"We all know that she is gaining some pretty awesome abilities, and it's kind of a shame that she hasn't put them to good use yet. So, we come to our main topic of discussion." Tony turned to address me directly. "How would you like to join our team officially? You know, the Avengers. Fury contacted me as soon as he found out about you. He's been pretty persistent; he's not passing up the opportunity to have a telepath on board. But, I thought I'd ask you before giving him an answer. So, what do you say?"

"It…I…uh…hmm…" I didn't know what to say, this kind of seemed like a big honor for me. "You know, I would, but I'm not sure if I could actually fight things like the Chitauri and save the world and all that, like you guys do."

"You are very well-suited for this," Thor said.

"He's right," Nat agreed. "Since I've started training you, you've become unstoppable in you school P.E. class."

"That's different," I protested. I wasn't sure if I was ready for this. I'm just a sixteen year old girl who had some freak thing happen to her.

"It's not like Fury plans to send you out solving all the problems of the world with us…at first. He just thinks you'd be nice to have around. I think you're already nice to have around. If you joined S.H.I.E.L.D. then you could continue to live with us here in the Stark Tower. And Fury wants you." Tony said.

"Well, my parents think I'm on a vacation with a friend...I'm going to have to go back to them in two days." I replied.

"You still haven't told them yet?" Steve asked.

"Not unless it's absolutely necessary!" I exclaimed.

"Well, maybe you don't have to _live_ with us here in Stark tower, but you're eventually going to have to say something to them," Tony said.

"I'm probably going to have to think about my decision, and after I've made it maybe I'll consider telling my parents," I said.

"Just say yes," Barton said. "We all know you want to."

"I do but-" I protested.

"Jade," Bruce said. "Just take the offer." Everyone started trying to talk to me at once.

"Okay, fine," I gave in. "I'll join your team." _I hope I don't regret it_, I thought.

"Awesome," Tony said. "I'll tell Fury, then we'll celebrate by showing Thor and the Captain all of the Harry Potter movies." He hurried out of the room.

"What are those?" Steve asked.

"Trust me, you'll like them," I replied, smiling.

Tony came back five minutes later. I assumed that his conversation with Fury over the phone was pretty short. "Come on, guys," he said, motioning us into the room with the huge TV.

I sat down next to Thor on the couch. It was pretty entertaining to watch Thor and Steve react to movies. I had been at Stark Tower with them for almost a week, and this wasn't the first time Tony decided to have a movie marathon. A few days ago it was various reality shows. The reactions were _way_ better than the movies. I had seen the Harry Potter movies so many times I pretty much had them memorized, so I pretty much just watched Thor as he asked all sorts of questions about the movie, and Steve as he tried to figure out how all the special effects were made. Most of us couldn't help but smile. Bruce eventually decided to sneak out around the fourth movie. Nat ended up falling asleep about then. I fell asleep right in the middle of the fifth movie.

I had horrible nightmares about what could happen to me on a mission with the Avengers. I blame the mutations in my brain.


	2. The Nightmare

**I apologize in advance for this chapter being kind of weird...I find Thor hard to write and had a hard time coming up with an ending. And sorry it took so long to update; I've been so busy!**

**Anyway...**

"Jade..." I heard someone calling my name. I couldn't tell who it was, but I didn't want to be woken up. "Jade! The movies were over an hour ago, come on, wake up!" I realized that it was Tony, and groaned.

"Go away, Tony," I said. The couch was so soft…

"Just get up, you can't sleep on my couch," he replied.

"What?" I couldn't think straight.

"You've been sleeping on my couch and I would like you to go to your own room," he replied. I slowly sat up and tried to bring myself back to reality.

"Alright, fine, I'll go to my room," I said, swinging my legs off and standing up. I started walking away, but Tony asked:

"One more thing, do you always scream in your sleep?"

"Shut up," I continued my way to my room and once I went in, locked the door behind me and flopped on my bed. Sometimes I wished I could control how I slept. If people kept hearing screaming coming from my room, people would start to worry about me, and the last thing I needed was endless attention. Sometimes I wished that people would just leave me alone to do what I wanted. But deep inside, I knew that I needed the help, but I wasn't willing to accept it. That just wasn't my personality. It wasn't long until I fell asleep again, and sure enough, the nightmares overtook me once again.

_All I saw was destruction. I could __**feel**__ blood dripping from a thousand cuts on my body. I saw Steve, I saw Thor, I saw Tony, I saw all of the Avengers. I saw them all dying slowly, bleeding, in extreme agony, just like I was. And I could feel it, poison pulsing through my veins, slowly killing me, just as it killed the others._

_It was all my fault, this had been caused by my mistake. I killed them. The Avengers had fallen and no one was left to protect the earth. The apocalypse was happening before my eyes; they made sure that I would stay alive for just long enough to see the world burn, to see my friends die, to watch this strange, dark, figure laugh at it…_

I awoke screaming. If I had screamed on any higher pitch I would have broken every window in the tower. I couldn't even control my own powers yet, and sometimes they tended to have a mind of their own. Like the mutation and I were separate people, like Bruce and the Hulk.

I heard a pounding on my door. I quickly sat up. Obviously someone was trying to get in, because they had obviously heard my scream. I also heard voices from outside.

"Tony, don't you have a way to unlock the doors in your own tower?" that was Bruce's voice. He was talking to Tony, so that meant Tony was there, too. Oh no, I thought. I just wanted everyone to go away.

"Well, somehow, she's holding the lock in," Tony replied. I smiled, I made sure it was secure with one of my favorite abilities, telekinesis.

"She can't hold it forever, keep trying," Bruce said. "We have to get in there." There was a force fighting against my mind, and after a few minutes it started to give me a headache to fight against it. I broke and the door burst open.

"What happened?" Tony asked. "A few of the windows cracked in Bruce's room and he made me come and unlock your door. What made you scream that loud?"

"Nothing," I said. "Nothing."

"Well, talk to Brucie for a minute, while I go and handle the cracks," Tony left the room, leaving the door open.

"Are you sure everything's fine," Bruce asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, you can leave now," I replied, a hint of annoyance in my voice.

"Look, Jade," he said. "You can tell me, I won't say a word to Tony,"

"Is that an absolute guarantee?" I asked.

"Yes, it is," he replied. I told him about my dream, about how everyone was being tortured slowly to death and I was watching them while suffering. Bruce listened patiently as I rambled on and on. When I took a deep breath (I didn't even realize how long it had been since I had) Bruce replied: "That's not going to happen. You wouldn't mess up like that, you're too good."

"Anything could happen," I sighed. "I'm not prepared to save the world; I'm not the person you want on your team." I hadn't even realized that I was crying, choking on sobs as I spoke.

"You can be prepared," Bruce said.

"How?" I asked.

"Get one of the other Avengers to help you, I'm probably not the best choice, and if you want my recommendation, I wouldn't ask Stark," he said.

"I wasn't planning on it," I said. "I'll probably talk to Natasha."

"If you train with her, there's no way you'll feel 'unworthy' or whatever you think now," Bruce smiled.

"Well, I have to leave tomorrow, so that probably won't be a problem until next time I come to New York," I said.

At that moment, Tony came back. "Not too much damage to the windows, don't worry about it. And everyone else is already eating breakfast, let's go."

"Breakfast?" I looked at the clock, sure enough, it was nine a.m. I had slept in a while. "Just give me a minute," I told Bruce and Tony as they left. I went into my bathroom and splashed cold water on my face to get rid of the red from crying. I couldn't believe that I had actually broken down like that, and I was sure Tony had figured it out by putting together the clues. Dressed simply in sweatpants and a t-shirt, I walked down to the kitchen where the rest of the Avengers were having breakfast: waffles.

I took one and sat down next to Thor. I ate in silence as everyone else talked to each other cheerfully. Thor must have noticed this, because he started talking to me. "What troubles you?" he asked.

"It's nothing, really," I replied. "Just a few…bad dreams."

"On most occasions you are exceptionally joyful, but today, you have not said a word," his voice showed concern.

I tried to think of an answer that would only be half lying. "Just…didn't have a very good night, that's all."

"Tell of your dreams," he said.

"Maybe later," I said. I wasn't about to start getting emotional again during breakfast, although, no one would probably notice with all the commotion, led by Tony. Now, it's not like I don't like Tony, he just sometimes gets on my nerves.

"Alright, people," Tony announced. Whenever Tony is about to make an announcement, it never ends well. He continued once he had everyone's attention. "Since Jade is leaving tomorrow, for a while, I think we should have a little celebration, you know, to kind of make her visit go out with a bang…a very large one..."

Steve cut in. "Tony, last time you had a party, everyone ended up in a very bad hangover and I had to clean up the mess. I don't think it's such a good idea."

"Don't worry, Spangles," Tony said. "It's not going to be that kind of party, for the sake of our teenage guest. It is going to be massive; there will be music, dancing, tasty desserts, like cheesecake...and macaroons…" I think he realized he didn't have my attention, because he looked right at me and he listed the desserts. "A giant chocolate fountain…" Had me there, I looked right at him. "Okay, now that everyone is really paying attention, I will continue. It's going to be tonight, at the club…the non-alcoholic one...just down the street from here and it's going to be fun." I don't think he was too happy about not having his drinks, but that stuff is bad for you, so it was good for him to take a break. "Is everyone in?"

"What is a…club?" Thor asked. "Do you strike people with it?"

"No, Thor," Clint replied. "It's a place where people dance, and there is very, very loud music."

"I asked if everyone was in," Tony said. We all slowly, reluctantly, and even a little bit hesitantly nodded. I wasn't the only one who didn't really want to go. "So, we're all good with that, so let's live through our day,"

After we finished breakfast, I decided that I was going to take a nap until I was forced to go to that stupid party. So, I went to my room, and then decided not to, so I didn't risk attracting any attention by screaming. Instead, I just sat there, and didn't do much else until about three o'clock when I started thinking about what to wear.

Since my stay had only been a week long, all my stuff was in a suitcase. I opened it up and thought: What do you wear to a party like this? I really had no idea; I didn't go to many parties back home, so I decided to ask Natasha, the only other girl in Stark Tower, besides Pepper. I wouldn't ask Pepper because I figured she probably liked parties.

I walked down the hallway to Nat's room and knocked on the door. "Who is it?" she asked, rather snappily.

"Jade, I have a question," I replied. She came to the door and opened it.

"Okay, come in," she said. "What's your question?"

"What do you wear to one of Stark's parties?" I asked.

She smiled, and I had no idea why. "I usually go shopping every time he has one to get something, because party outfits aren't just something I usually get."

"Why are you smiling?" I asked suspiciously.

"Because I use Tony's credit card, it's my way of…revenge, you could say," she replied.

"How do you get his credit card?" I asked, surprised at her answer.

"That's my business," she said. "I've got it right here, why don't you come with me?"

"Okay," I said. We left the tower, careful not to let Tony see us so he could ask what we were doing.

Our shopping consisted of several stops to all of the most expensive dress boutiques we could find. In the end, I ended up with a short hot pink dress with silver sequins on top and a fluffy ruffled skirt and five-inch silver heels. Nat's dress was short, black with small silver sparkles spaced out around the dress; I thought it was boring. She also had gotten a pair of very high heels.

At eight p.m. that night, the Avengers headed to the party. From about eight to nine, I didn't do much dancing, even though I was a highly experienced dancer. I stood by the snack table and enjoyed the chocolate fountain. Nat came over to me, asking me questions. "Why are you just here in the corner? You at least should try to enjoy yourself, as much as you can at one of Tony's parties," she said.

"I am enjoying myself," I replied, taking another bite of a chocolate-coated strawberry, "I'm enjoying the enormous number of calories I'm consuming. I'll dance them off later."

Tony decided to join us. "Hey girls, those dresses are nice," he said. "They look stunning...and expensive...speaking of expenses, have either one of you seen my credit card? I seem to have lost it this afternoon…"

"Which one?" I asked, knowing that Tony had more than one card, and I was actually curious to see which one Nat had actually stolen.

"My Black Amex," he replied, "I can't imagine having lost it, it was safe in my wallet. Seriously, I don't want to have to call the company, because then I have to wait for hours just to talk to some person."

I said nothing; just stood there and continued eating. Tony left and Nat said, "I'll give it back to him later, tell him I found it just laying on the floor."

"Yeah right, he's going to buy _that_," I said.

"Yes, he will," Nat said with a slight smile. "People will go with anything you say if you say it right."

_This is why __**you**__ should train me,_ I thought.

Nat eventually convinced me to start dancing with everyone else and at least _try_ to look like I'm enjoying it. It wasn't that I wasn't enjoying the moment; it was that I wasn't enjoying the experience I was going to have tomorrow. As soon as I stepped off the airplane, into the taxi, and then into the front door of my house, I'd have to tell my parents the truth.


End file.
